NEM Offers First “Editable” M-of-N Multsig Tech in Cryptocurrency World

Blockchain 2.0 project NEM recently announced that, with its latest release, the platform has added editable M-of-N multisignature technology, a first for a cryptocurrency.

NEM’s M-of-N multisig is supported with APIs allowing it to be used by different users across different platforms and developers. The contracts for making multisignature accounts are managed and edited on the blockchain as well as being supported by the NEM Community Client enabling the making, editing, utilization of a multisig account available to all users.

“M-of-N” refers to the number of signatures – “M” – needed to complete a transaction is less than the total number of approved signatures – “N”. In an editable M-of-N multisig, users can change their M number of signatures at any point, thus adding or subtracting signers at will. This unique among cryptocurrencies as changing the number signatures in a multisig account usually requires creation of a new account and transferring all the funds.

In addition to the multisig tech, NEM version 0.6.42 includes an customizable asset system called Mosaic and transaction control programs XEMpay and XEMsign.

The new Mosaic system, which is ready for final testing on the NEM testnet, will enable the release of customizable blockchain tied assets when it goes live, according to the project team.

NEM project stated:

The Mosaic system will be integrated with the Namespace feature and enable asset issuers to create uniquely named classes and maintain virtually any asset on the blockchain. The NEM API functions facilitate many automated tasks to be created relating to assets. Assets in version one of Mosaic and Namespace on the testnet already allow for trusted domain names and subdomain names to be created for different mosaic lines. The mosaics themselves are customizable by amount in either a fixed, mutable, or capped quantity. They can be designed to be transferable or not, divisible or not, and can also be combined in groups as well as have descriptions, and be sent alongside encrypted messages in one transaction. Mosaic’s current version is a unique, advanced and customizable asset creation feature with later versions planned to carry even more additional features.

A NEM community member, “Quantum Mechanics”, has released two codes on Github called XEMpay and XEMsign, which are account control programs for monitoring and filtering transactions. These two programs are utilized on top of the multisig APIs to secure the official NEM faucet. This is apparently a unique faucet setup utilizing automated multisignature technology in a way that the faucet node and the signing node are kept completely separate with the only communication between them happening through the blockchain. This creates a system that helps prevent a possible loss of XEM through the faucet but is also adaptable and customizable for other projects.

Last week, NEM also launched a “Quick Start Guide” that utilizes a standalone version of NEM.

The guide is using the standalone version of NEM and not an installer. Using the installer requires additional steps to run the wallet without downloading the blockchain, but NEM has been designed from the beginning to support a two-tiered architecture. This means all we need is a wallet and then we can connect to any remote node and start sending transactions.

NEM notes that the “hardest and longest part about trying out a NEM wallet is getting Java updated.”

One of NEM’s features in development is Crypto Apex, a community approved funding project. According to the project team, Crypto Apex is a demonstration of how NEM technology is being used to create a escrow enabled exchange. It does not hold any balances and thus reduces the cost of running heavy security solutions to protect its database and wallets. Working tightly with the NEM Community Client, a user buys and sells XEM, NEM’s unit of currency, using fiat currency or bitcoin. Upon execution of a trade, the fiat money or cryptocurrency goes straight back into the buyer or seller’s wallet or bank account. The offering relieves the operator of the risk of being robbed of its coin store at all. The escrow is also multisig protected to prevent being broken into between trades.

The NEM Node Reward’s program is currently having its node monitor program written. This program will create a Dash style masternode program on the NEM network. Nodes will be rewarded for supporting the NEM network after locking a deposit fee utilizing the unique NEM feature of delegated harvesting. This allows users on remote servers to securely harvest (NEM’s version of mining) regardless of whether these nodes are malicious or not and without any fear of having funds compromised.

Headquartered in the Netherlands, NEM, short for New Economy Movement, is an original blockchain technology platform that uses a Proof-of-Importance algorithm for blockchain consensus. The PoI consensus mechanism calculates an importance score for an account by taking into consideration its balance, activity of the account, as well as the importance of accounts transacted with. The Java-based NEM also incorporates the Eigentrust++ reputation algorithm, multi-signature capabilities, encrypted messaging, and a robust client-server web architecture that accommodates encapsulation of layers within the system.